if you ask a Buddhist whether Vipassana meditation will lead to peace with a biblical god, what would he say? is peace with a biblical god the aim of Vipassana meditation? if peace with Jehovah/YHWH isn't what you're seeking, then that's fine if Vipassana mediation is your preferred path, but if it doesn't lead to peace with Jehovah, you're barking up the wrong tree if that's what you're seeking.
Key words being "if that's what you're seeking." There's no indication that the inmates taking part in this program are seeking or not seeking peace with Jehovah, specifically; they're seeking peace, however you define it. And they seem to find benefit in the process. There's actually a Wikipedia entry on this subject, and one on the Vipassana movement in general, both are pretty interesting: Prison contemplative programs One quote I thought was interesting: Vipassana movement And as far as your question goes: It's more about the practice itself than the result. Considering the practices are about increasing mindfulness, one would assume that if you hold a truth about the nature/existence of the Christian God, that truth would hold and deepen with mindfulness meditation, which is simply meditation on what is.
a couple of things: a) i'm not opposed to the program at the prison. i'm sure it does some good, maybe a lot of good. maybe more good than any other program at the prison. b) meditation on God's word is different from other kinds of meditation. it has a specific intent. two verses that talk about the benefits are these: I have hidden ( or treasured ) your word in my heart so that I will not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11) Don't be conformed any longer to the ways of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.(Romans 12:2) some people want to have an understanding of what God's will might be. meditation on his word will help in that regard. you have to train yourself to hear his voice.
some people think that the writer of this psalm was David. so. there are a few possibilities. a) it wasn't David. God wrote it himself, and you're right. b) it was David. your attempt at humor failed. c) it was David. you didn't know that. d) it wasn't David. it was someone other than God. live and learn.
If it was David then it wasn't God, then it's not God's word it's David's. In the end, it's IMPERFECT, hence not of Divine Quality. I wholeheartedly believe in a God, supreme being of all, just not the one that I was taught in the book. It's a book complied by man with political ramifications used to control and enslave people thru out time. I admire your devotion, I really do. I say this without sarcasm or any kind of mal intent but remember you are reading King James' version of the bible, NOT GOD's version.
without God's influence in David's life, he's simply and adulterer and a murderer, not much more than that. i'm guessing you don't believe he killed the Philistine giant. it's hard to dialogue with someone who doesn't have the same view of the Bible. i'm sure your experience is similar to mine. we always hope that our god isn't an invention of our consciousness. the god in the Bible sent his son to show us what it means to love. that god is worth believing in. his story is an a book. what people did with that story has nothing to do with who that god is. that's about people who need to abandon their false notions about what spirit is and does and follow Jesus. first of all, i read several biblical translations. i don't read Greek, but i have a good lexicon. the King James Version is a good translation in parts and not so good in other parts. i prefer the NASB for study and the NIV for simple understanding. but in any case, a broad study of the text will suffice to establish a useful understanding of what God wants in terms of our relationship with him. pattern your life around the way Jesus loved, ministered, led, believed... that'll take care of the essentials.
When you speak to people that agree with you, you learn NOTHING. Basically you are self assuring yourself that you know what you know. When you dialogue with someone who doesn't share your beliefs you grow and learn, which ultimately brings you closer to your answer. I don't see myself as superior to God. I would never question what I already know to be true. His existence. Unfortunately, we don't agree on the specifics of the bible. I choose to see the events in the bible thru a different frame, where the story is more literal and the events less symbolic. You are right! What people have done with the book has nothing to do with God! God exists without the book, there is no need for it because God already resides everywhere. The book is like training wheels and once you know how to ride a bike, you don't need them anymore. How is that any different from the Buddhists, Shinto, Jews, other Christians, Muslims, etc etc etc. There is no difference, we are all the same. God isn't divided it is us humans who are divided in our way to GOD. I've chosen to ignore the division and chart a course straight to the Divine.
i've met some very nice people who think that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. how they got that idea, i'm not sure. it's quite an odd one. i've met some other people, some nice, some not so nice, who think that Jesus is "a god" based on a translation of the Greek NT by a guy who admitted he didn't know Greek very well. most NT scholars think that his translation of the NT is quite flawed. now, as we both know, neither of us has access to absolute truth, but we can be pretty sure that somebody has to be wrong here. the guy who says that Jesus is "a god" is at variance with a huge majority of Christians, and the folks that say that Jesus and Lucifer are brothers are similarly at variance with the same majority of Christians. being in the majority doesn't make anyone right, but both camps can't be right. these claims are mutually exclusive. it's pretty easy to invent a religion to fit your preferences. happens all the time. Jim Jones comes to mind. of course, he started out with ideas that were reasonably conventional, probably, but along the way he strayed away from a world view that is consistent with the Bible. you say that God would exist, Bible or no Bible, and that's true ( seen The Book of Eli? ) however if God is the Biblical God, and that is certainly possible, then we wouldn't know that much about what his will for us might be without the Scriptures, now, would we?
I believe its called dualism. Where by Jesus and Lucifer have been inverted in our everyday culture. All this manipulated by man of course to control his fellow man and gain power. I agree with you here. The truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. You see, the more that you cling on to the physical the longer it takes you to reach closeness with GOD the Divine. A book and scriptures are a physical representations of the desire of man. God doesn't need to speak to you via a book he exists right there within you, in your soul. You just need to quiet the sounds around you (the physical world) and you will find him no problem.
The Roman Rite liturgy's Exultet chant in praise of the paschal candle refers to Christ as lucifer. But then that's not that big of a problem since lucifer simply means 'Morning Star'. Calling the devil Lucifer is a later tradition, stemming from misinterpreting a bible passage (Isaiah 14:3-20) that gives a particular Babylonian King the title 'Morning Star'.
I still do not have the full understanding on how Satan the prosecutor of god in the Jewish understanding became this evil character in the New Testament. I have seen people trying to explain it that the Christian devil is a mix of Jewish with Zoroastrian myths, but that has not satisfied me completely; maybe I will start a new thread about it.
Isn't there a belief called Dualism that juxtaposes Jesus with Satan? Where by Satan or the Devil is in reality Jesus and vice versa.